The sun is God

"Colonial New Guinea--1906: a small group of mostly German nudists live an extreme back-to-nature existence on the remote island of Kabakon. Eating only coconuts and bananas, they purport to worship the sun. One of their members--Max Lutzow--has recently died, allegedly from malaria. But an autopsy on his body in the nearby capital of Herbertshöhe raises suspicions of foul play. Recruited to investigate the circumstances of Lutzow's death, former British military police officer Will Prior sets sail for Kabakon accompanies by Captain Hauptman Kessler of the German army and travel writer Bessie Pullen-Burry, who joins the mission at the insistence of powerful landowner Emma Forsayth. At first members of the eccentric Cocovores seem friendly and willing to cooperate with the investigation. They all insist that Lutzow died of malaria. Still, Prior is convinced that the group is hiding something. With no conclusive evidence that Lutzow was murdered, and preparing to head home to Herbertshöhe, Prior and this companions are invited to a late-night feast supposedly given as a send-off for the visitors, but Prior fears that the intent of the "celebration" is not to fete the visitors but to make them the latest murder victims" -- Back cover.